In Praise of Total Commitment
The more difficult the task we set ourselves, the more committed we need to be in order to achieve our goal. Degree of commitment goes hand in hand with degree of success. If there is something we wish to do, then becoming totally committed to accomplishing it is very unlikely to result in failure.



The Mindset
Total commitment is a mindset which, when adopted, influences not only our actions but also our interpretation of events, related to our goal, as they occur. An example from my own experience can serve as an illustration.

The speedometer cable broke on my car less than 30 minutes after leaving 'home' one day. My thoughts were initially that I would need to be careful to avoid breaking a speed limit on arrival in Europe. At the time, I was on the 'wrong' side of the Sahara desert, but my mind was already focused on arrival at my intended destination. I was totally committed to driving 1,500 miles across a formidable desert, alone in a small 2-wheel drive family car. Then, I realised that I no longer had a mileometer and a means of working out not only how far I had travelled, but also what the car's fuel consumption was when driving on sand. How would I know when I was halfway across? How would I know whether I was carrying enough extra fuel? The total commitment mindset causes us to seek solutions to problems as they arise, not back off or give up. It is also important to note that no replacement cable was available at that time.


Negative Influences
There are always those who will tell you that your intended goal is not realistically achievable, not advisable, foolhardy and so on. We need to be focused on our objective but, and very importatly, make realistic assessments of situations as they arise and plan and adapt accordingly. In the case of the broken cable, I needed to see how in reality will it affect the situation, and not just assume it was a critical fault.


Balanced Assessments
Effective solutions to problems often suggest themselves whilst calmly reflecting upon them. Act in haste repent at leisure.

By the second day, the heat around the engine is such that it melted soldered electrical connections in the alternator and prevented the car’s battery from charging. To continue meant that there would be insufficient power to re-start the engine. A solution needed to be found. Turning back was not an initial consideration. It would take 2 hours to find the fault and do a temporary repair with limited tools. Of course it will happen again and it did, frequently. Repeated practice got the repair time down to 45 minutes. A little calm reflection suggested disconnecting the brake lights which drained battery power every time I braked to avoid ridges or soft patches in the sand. Afterall, there was nobody behind. Then, it came down to a point whereby I only needed to repair it 3 times a day.


Approach to setbacks
Setbacks are a problem of course, but total commitment interprets them simply as a need for a modified approach of some kind. It was a setback when I reached the first town on the northern side of the desert and the only bank in town refused to accept my traveler's cheques. Total commitment is directed towards both me AND the car reaching the UK. So, a local shop gets a little of my remaining cash for a cheap packet of biscuits - at least I got to eat something that day. The rest, including every last coin was put in the hands of a guy at the petrol station. I needed to reach the next town with a car that now had a top speed of 30mph due to sand in the engine and a seriously damaged suspension. Being a Friday, I had to drive 45 miles in 2 hours without hitting a single pothole in what now passes for an Algerian road, else have an empty stomach over the weekend until the bank opens again (assuming of course that the bank decides to accept my cheques).


Becoming Totally Committed
Whatever we decide to set as a personal goal will require some degree of motivation on our part in order to achieve it. Motivation comes in degrees and with it comes degrees of success. Total commitment, by contrast, has no such scale of advancement. Either it is present or it is not.

You know that you are totally committed, as opposed to being just motivated, when setbacks automatically invoke a response of how you can overcome them.

So how do we become totally commited? Well we have to decide whether our goal is truly what we wish to achieve as a priority over other interests. This is necessary because setbacks and problems along the way are inevitable. Being totally commited to a particular goal may require you to alter the degree of involvement with an existing interest or activity. Total commitment dominates. It does not lend itself to compromise. Success will come at a price and you have to be prepared to accept that price, but that is exactly how success in life works!


You may also like to read:
Dream Big!
A Donkey Story!
The Dream Stealer


Author: Maurice Thurman
Maurice Thurman is an international Land Rover expert and author. He has been driving Series Land Rovers for over 25 years, with six of those spent in the rainforests of Borneo, driving in remote locations on former logging trails, and two years in Papua New Guinea. These were environments where Land Rover problems required quick diagnosis and often innovative temporary solutions. Maurice has driven various vehicles across the Sahara, from the UK to Pakistan, and across Australia, in between undertaking numerous shorter, less demanding trips. These have enabled him to build up a good working knowledge of hands-on roadside vehicle fault identification and repair. Thurman has written 3 books on Land Rover Series 1, 2 and 3, which can be purchased through the link below:







Copyright © 2012 Sandhya Maarga Holistic Living Resources
Holistic Living Annex (Volume 1, Issue 5 - JUN 2012 Edn)